The present application relates generally to a pressure relief vent assembly for use in relieving air pressure in a vehicle.
Modern automotive vehicles typically include pressure relief vents, mounted somewhere on the body of the vehicle, to selectively allow for air flow out of the passenger compartment of the vehicle while limiting airflow in the opposite direction. The air flow occurs when the air pressure in the vehicle is greater than the atmospheric pressure outside the vehicle by a predetermined amount. For example, the pressure inside the vehicle may rise temporarily when a vehicle door is closed. The pressure relief vents open during these events, thus avoiding air pressure levels that would be uncomfortable for the vehicle occupants.
The typical body pressure relief vents used on automotive vehicles have uniform and symmetrical flaps and hinges, so they generally open and close simultaneously for given pressure differentials between the vehicle passenger compartment and atmospheric pressure. While adequately relieving the pressure, an issue that sometimes arises with these vents is that the noise generated when all of the flaps slap shut (i.e., impact against a frame of a valve housing) at the same time irritates some vehicle occupants. This may occur, for example, during the vehicle door closing event. The combined noise from all of the flaps may be more easily heard in certain types of vehicles, such as pickup trucks where the pressure relief valve may be located on the back of the cab, allowing this undesirable slapping noise to be more easily heard by the occupants.
Since there are some occupants who find this noise objectionable, solutions have been proposed that attempt to solve this concern. For example, hot glue dollops have been applied to each flap along its hinge. But this limits the flow rate of air out through the valves more than is desirable and adds more cost to the pressure relief valve assembly than is desired. In another example, nibs have been added to each flap or the frame around the flaps where the two contact. But this allows an increase in backflow through the valves that may be higher than is desirable. Thus, a cost effective way to reduce or eliminate this noise, while still allowing for the body pressure relief function to be performed adequately, is desired.